Here’s Video Of That Hot Air Balloon Crash Yesterday

Gawker: A passenger on a nearby balloon managed to capture video of the hot air balloon accident that claimed the lives of 19 tourists yesterday in Luxor, Egypt: Smoke billows from the balloon’s basket for several seconds before the ballon itself dramatically deflates and plummets toward the ground. Passengers on the balloon filming the terrifying scene can be heard gasping and praying. Victims included tourists from Japan, China, the U.K. and Hungary; the two survivors, the pilot and a British tourist, survived by jumping from the balloon. “I saw tourists catching fire and they were jumping from the balloon,” local farmer Hassan Abdel-Rasoul told AP. “They were trying to flee the fire but it was on their bodies.” The crash—by far the worst in history—led to the immediate suspension of hot air balloon flights in Luxor.

In a sick way this is almost like a crazy Would You Rather. Would you rather take your chances in the balloon basket which is on fire or jump and take your chances surviving the fall. Monday morning quarterbacking tells us what the better option was but even so, jumping would be really hard for me. Heights are not my thing but then again I guess that’s why I never would’ve been up there in the first place. Maybe we’ll revisit this tomorrow…